The Church

Hey everyone it’s Amy!!!!

So on Tuesday we returned to Nairobi from a long weekend in Thika, specifically in a rural slum community called Kiandutu.  We only had a short time there to experience and learn what LIA is doing through the local churches in Kiandutu, but thankfully our God is not limited by time.  God taught all of us so much and opened our eyes up so much in the few days we had in Kiandutu. 

In every community LIA enters into one of the first things they do is unite the local churches so that they are working together.  The fruit of this is that a Pastor’s Fellowship is formed and the pastors meet once a week to pray, be trained, and to plan/discuss how they can continue to serve the community.  In every community we’ve been to so far, we have had the opportunity to meet with all the pastor’s fellowships, and I can honestly say that the pastor’s fellowship in Thika was the strongest that I’ve witnessed so far.  I was so encouraged by their unity, their commitment, and their hearts for transformation.  They had not only grasped LIA’s vision and model of empowerment, but they were running after that vision full force.  One of the pastors told me that they were more of a family than a group of pastors.  I was just really encouraged by that because these pastors have realized that they can impact this community in bigger ways if they work together than if they were to work alone.  These pastors come from all different backgrounds, regions, denominations, etc but they have not let those differences blind them from their goal of exalting Christ in their community and addressing the needs of Kiandutu. 

Along with the pastor’s fellowship, there are also the TOT (Trainer of Trainers) team and the CHE (Community Health Evangelists)team working alongside the pastors and LIA.  These teams are made up of church members mostly and others in the community.  The TOT team and the CHE team in Kiandutu shared the same commitment, vision, and unity that the pastors did.  Every CHE oversees a couple families in Kiandutu that are considered the poorest in the community.  The commitment of the CHEs was clearly seen during home visits.  The CHE that was with my group introduced each family to us and it was so clear that she had taken the time to invest in these families so that they were known and loved by her.  I could really sense that she spends a lot of time weekly visiting these families and just encouraging them.  I was so encouraged to see how committed this CHE was to her role in community transformation.  I know that God has put this team together in Kiandutu and that his glory and transforming power is going to be made known in that community and beyond. 

Our time in Thika really taught me the importance of unity within the body of Christ.  These individuals are all so vastly different, yet they are all united by Christ.  And because they are united by Christ they are committed to making his glory known and serving to bring about community transformation.  I think about all the churches in Louisville. If all these churches were to put denomination differences aside, unite to make Christ known in Louisville, and address the many needs in our city--how big would that impact be?  One church in Louisville can make a small difference, but many churches united and working together in the power of the Holy Spirit would make a much bigger difference.  We may all meet in different buildings, that is the local church, to worship, but we are all part of one body--Christ's body.  

"And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him

to be head over everything for the church, which is his body,

the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

Ephesians 1:22-23 

Mathare

Last week, we had the privilege of spending time in Mathare, which is another slum in Nairobi. It is half the size of Kibera, but there are still a great deal of people living there. One of the pastors told us the population is about 600,000.

Mathare has a completely different feel than Kibera, though they are similar in a lot of ways. The poverty is clear but Mathare is more developed. And, it was safer for us to walk around, so we got a better idea of what is going on. I asked one of the guys what he thought was the biggest problem in Mathare for the youth and he quickly said, "unemployment...there are no jobs." You see a lot of people that are idle, and one might be quick to assume that they are just lazy but the majority just can't find jobs. So you find people idle, but it's not by choice. I did, however, see so many people selling various things. Everywhere you go, you can find someone trying to do something to provide for their families which is always encouraging. They might be selling maize, mandazi, shoes, clothes, beans, and/or all sorts of other things. I think that if some of the people without jobs could get some start-up capital, they could really make a business for themselves. The African people, if nothing else, are very creative and they love to work with their hands. I love it.


LIA has been in Mathare for about a year and a half. They are currently working with a group of youth and a group of women for economic empowerment. We got to hang out with the youth (ages 15-23) on Tuesday. They have a business together selling fresh juices in the market. So we got to wash, peel, and juice many fruits/veggies that day with them. We had paw paw, mango, pineapple, oranges, watermelon, carrots, beet root...I think that was everything. So, they sell the juices and share the love of Christ with the community. And then, they split the money amongst themselves. LIA has gotten them all savings accounts, and encourages them to save their money. Very cool.


On Wednesday and Thursday we spent time with the women's fellowship. I love them! They are so much like a family and Keziah and Beth (LIA staff in Mathare) were telling us that they just share and encourage one another openly. For their business they do a lot of bead work...purses, necklaces/bracelets, jewelry boxes, and they do some knitting too. We got to work on purses with them those two days. Most of the women are the sole providers for their families so it's great they have something to do that not only helps them economically but spiritually as well. This week was mainly a time of sharing and fellowship. I loved to hear from the women and to learn about their dreams and desires as we worked alongside them. They are very funny women and they love the Lord =)

Almost forgot - we went on home visits on Monday. They split us up and we went to one house each. Daniel and I were together with Pastor Jennifer and one of the young CHEs, Bernard. We visited the home of Jane...very sweet lady. She is there by herself doing the best she can to provide for herself and her two children. The father is not in their lives but she makes a living selling beaded pieces to a sandal-maker. I later found out that she's part of the women's fellowship, too! My face lit up when I saw her again on Wednesday lol because I thought I never would. At her home she showed us some of her work and it was stunning. We talked with her for a while and prayed for her needs and gave encouragement to her along with a bag of food items. Home visits are really something special. I wish we did them more in the US.

Friday is Mathare's prayer and fasting day so we joined them for that. And since it was the last Friday of the month, we took the Lord's Supper with them as well. It was a much needed time of prayer and reflection. And then we headed to Thika! Busy, busy, busy. The pastors were disappointed that we couldn't spend Sunday with them. =(

Thanks for reading, Rebecca.

Us with the youth and LIA Mathare staff after our morning of juicing =)

A Prayer for Kiandutu

Prayer is powerful. It is transformative. It is humbling. Prayer is also revealing. It is an action of opening up one’s heart and soul and pouring it out before God. One’s prayers will reveal what he or she is passionate about. You can learn a lot about people by hearing them bare all to their Savior and Sustainer.  On Monday July 2^nd we had the opportunity to spend time in prayer with the Pastors, TOTs and CHEs of Kiandutu, the rural slum of Thika. In groups we lifted up the different needs of that community: children’s ministry, men to return to the Church, widows and widowers, poverty, and sickness. As we prayed it just appeared to be another typical day of prayer. For those who don’t know Monday is the day of prayer and fasting for LIA and the churches they work with. We have participated in these before and, though we were in a new location, it seemed to be playing out as we had experienced before. How silly of us to expect anything typical of God. When the Holy Spirit moves it is rarely predictable or typical but it is always incredible. As we finished this time of prayer, Daniel, one of the LIA staff in Thika, went outside and picked up a handful of soil. He brought it before the pastors and asked them to pray prophetically over this soil to redeem it for the glory of God. He asked the pastors to beseech God and declare a new name for that community; Kiandutu means place of jiggers, a type of flea that burrows into one’s skin.

Therefore we began to pray; the pastors in the center praying over the soil, and the rest in a circle around the pastors. Not a quiet private prayer that is commonplace in many evangelical churches in America. For those who don’t know, corporate prayer in Kenya means everyone prays out loud at the same time, and so we did. To the outsider it may have appeared strange. Many people were shouting, some crying, and a couple bodily moving around; one pastor actually almost unknowingly hit Amy in the face. But this action was not for show; it was simply the overflow of their hearts. As I mentioned earlier, prayer is revealing. In those minutes of prayer the pastors revealed to me one of the most heartfelt displays of passion I have ever seen. Tears were shed because they were in pain for their community. Voices lifted and shouts were raised because they could not stand for their community to remain the same. Every word expressed love for their congregations. Each petition was a powerful display of passion. Even though the Amen may have finished the vocalized prayer, I am certain it is still continuing in the hearts of those pastors.

For me (Daniel) this experience was convicting. Having seen the passion of the pastors for their community I wondered, do I even have half of that amount of passion for my own community? Or have I become content with where my community is? Have I forgotten God’s transforming power and relinquished all hope for change? Do I truly love the people in my community or is it just something I say? Do you?

If so, pray that God will bring transformation; live passionately knowing that you pray to Him who is able to do more than you could ask or imagine. But if not, pray that God’s love and passion may fill your heart.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14

Kibera

So it’s Kimber here…

I first just wanted to say Thank You to everyone who helped support all of us. Without you guys (and God of course) this opportunity could not be possible. This experience has already impacted all of us significantly and we have already learned so much.

Last week, we were focused mainly at the LIA clinic in Kibera. All the people from the clinic attended training with us so it was great catching up and seeing them in “action”. The clinic was also located on the same grounds of a small, primary school. I really enjoyed playing with the kids and just loving on them. While there, we got the opportunity to sit with some 5^th and 6^th graders and talk to them. They asked us some pretty tough questions. Talking with them broke my heart as well as opened my eyes. These kids seemed so much older than they really were. When you think about it, many of these kids live in a small hut with their entire family. They are exposed to everything that goes on inside their home; what their parents watch on TV, how their older siblings talk… One of the questions a little girl asked was, “Why are you guys rich and we are poor?” Try answering that how a 10 year old could understand. Training equipped us for this answer by explaining the definition of poor. There are many types of poor: physical, emotional, spiritual, etc… In America, many of us are considered “rich” but which type? We can be physically rich but if we are spiritually poor aren’t we still at square one?  We told them that while we do have materially poor people in America, we have many other types of poor.  A lot of people are spiritually poor and emotionally poor.  Some people have all the money in the world, but they aren’t happy. 

6 Americans at an Ethiopian restaurant in Kenya with a Somali.

Although the Somali country director’s background is Somali, he lived in Ethiopia for a lot of his life, so on Wednesday he treated us to an Ethiopian dinner. The atmosphere was so perfect, I actually felt like I was on vacation. He ordered for us because we had no clue what was happening on the menu. When our food came, there was so much! Traditional Ethiopian food is like some meat and some sauces and some other stuff served on top of injera. Injera is this bread-like stuff that serves as your utensils. You just dip it in the meat or whatever you feel like dipping it in. Oh yeah, Ethiopian food is eaten community style so we all just ate off two large plates. All the stuff you dip the injera in is served on top of more injera! We tried to finish it all, but it was so much food! After dinner, we had Ethiopian coffee. The coffee was so flavorful because they prepare it some special way that only Jim could explain (he’s our coffee expert). Coffee was served under a little tent where we sat on little stools. It was a really intimate setting and we enjoyed just sitting around and being a family together. We also shared coffee with 2 other people-one was a girl named Addis and the other was a guy named Anzy. The country director shared Christ with Addis and we got the opportunity to hear about Anzy’s life. It was such a great night getting out of the apartment and immersing ourselves into yet another cultural experience.  

blessings from Somalia

Hey everyone! 

Love, grace, and peace from the Kenya-ers! 

So we have been in Kenya for 4 weeks now and I (Amy) have just been reflecting on everything that has happened, what God has taught us, and just the countless blessings He has poured out on us. One of the biggest blessings has been sharing a home with some of the LIA country directors. For the first 10 days the country directors from Sudan and Egypt stayed with us and this week, from Sunday to Thursday, the country director from Somalia stayed with us. We are so thankful for the opportunity and privilege to live with and get to know these amazing people from various countries. Countries that not only have completely different cultures than ours, but also countries that don’t experience same amount of freedom as we do—especially in the freedom to worship. We are so thankful for how these country directors openly shared their lives with us.  They were transparent in telling us their struggles and challenges, but they also passed on so much wisdom to us—wisdom that could only come from an intimate walk with the Lord and from their experiences. These country directors could have simply lived with us, but instead they took the short time they had to invest and pour into us. So so good.

As I said before, this past week the country director from Somalia stayed with us.  I’m not going to say  his name because of security, but he is fantastic.  I have had Somalia on my heart for the past year so when I found out that he was from Somalia I was so EXCITED! He told me how they are helping people affected by the famine, how they are helping orphans, and the struggles of building relationships and sharing Christ.  Despite all the challenges, he is one of the most joy-filled, energetic people I’ve ever met. He has such a close, intimate walk with Jesus.  It’s evident in his understanding and knowledge of scripture and by the way he carries himself and lives his life.  One night, he sat in on debrief and debrief turned into him just pouring into us. At one point, he talked about how much he loved the word of God.  He said that he would never leave Christianity, even if it was wrong, because that is how much he loves Jesus and His word.  This brought tears to my eyes especially as I reflected on my own walk. I want to know Jesus as intimately as he does. I want to have a love for the Word that leaves me hanging on every word and desiring to know more. Sadly, I haven’t put in the time and energy to grow that relationship with Christ.  He ended the night telling us about how the most important thing is to just love Jesus. Our ministry doesn’t matter; just love Jesus. When we do something for others, we do it simply because we love Jesus. At the end of the day, just love Jesus. We ended the night praying and just telling Jesus how much we love him. It was so powerful and way better than any prayer time we were planning on having. 

The four days with him were such a blessing. He shared his testimony with us and poured so much wisdom into us. I am eternally grateful for all that I learned from him.  Everything from the way he talked to the way he lived his life was modeled after Christ. He had so much wisdom and knowledge of God, but at the same time he has this child-like faith that I admire so much. It was so encouraging to hear how faithful God had been to him and how he has persevered despite the hostility to Christianity in Somalia. In America, we have a church on every corner and you can get a Bible almost anywhere—we have the freedom to seek Christ openly and to proclaim His truth to everyone, yet our lives don’t display that freedom. We can openly live out the gospel and we don’t, while our brother from Somalia doesn’t have the freedom to live out the gospel openly, but he does. He has much more at stake than we do. Our reputations might get tarnished, but his life and the life of his family is at stake. It just shows how much we take our freedom for granted. I’m encouraged by his testimony, but I’m convicted at the same time because my life needs to look drastically different. I’m so glad that we got the opportunity to share our home in Nairobi with ,him and I pray that I will get to visit him and serve with him in Somalia. 

 

Makueni - Retrospective Thoughts

James: Our week in Makueni exposed us to part of the ministry LIA is involved in and the model they use (the CHE model) to effectuate holistic community change. We learned about and participated in construction projects, played with kids, and evangelized with the pastors (which wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be).  We saw the powerful effect a coalition of pastors and churches can have on a community, and already I'm anxious to see how I can encourage churches back home to effectively share the Gospel locally. It was comforting to be reminded that people are people, regardless of where they live and what perspectives they have; we're all under the same grace and love the same Jesus.


Overall, the time we spent with the pastors and members of their churches helped tremendously in further solidifying the understanding of how LIA operates we gained in the previous weeks' TOT training.